Rally attendees enthusiastic about Obama, Biden campaign

Saturday

Reactions from a few people who attended Saturday's rally with U.S. Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden in Springfield, Ill.

Reactions from a few people who attended Saturday's rally with U.S. Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden in Springfield, Ill.:

TROY ALIM, 38, of Springfield, brought his children, 11-year-old Rafi and 10-year-old Jinnah, to see Obama and Biden.

“It was very inspiring. I thought that it was important I had a chance to bring the kids out and see something that could be part of history.”

Alim’s kids took turns riding on his shoulders so they could have a better view.

“They saw a lot more than I did,” he said.

Alim’s son, Rafi, was impressed by Biden’s personal history, saying: “He didn’t start out that good, but he came up and rose above, and I thought that was pretty good because most people can’t do that.”

LOLA LAMEKIN, 63, of Springfield, mistakenly thought Obama’s appearance was scheduled for 3 p.m., rather than 2 p.m., so she and her sister arrived too late to get a prime viewing spot.

“I really didn’t hear that much, and I’m disappointed. I didn’t get close enough,” she said. “I couldn’t see him at all.

“But the spirit of the crowd is good.”

Lamekin praised Obama, saying: ”He’s about principle. He’s a man of character, and I think he makes good decisions.”

She doesn’t know much yet about Biden, Obama’s newly announced running mate, but she said she appreciates his outspokenness.

Poelker won’t be able to vote in the Nov. 4 election because he won’t turn 18 until later that month.

“I care, and I think this generation cares, and we want to try to get people that can vote to get out and vote, and vote for Obama.”

CHERYL RUSSELL, 59, of Glenview, Ill., decided Friday night that she just had to be at the Old State Capitol on Saturday afternoon.

“I really like Obama a lot. I feel far more hopeful for the country, and when he picked Biden, that was the clincher,” she said. “I think they’re going to fight for the middle class, and I think that’s long overdue.”

She offered a blunt assessment of recent U.S. presidents.

“Bush has been the worst president, I think, ever,” Russell said. “Clinton was better, and Bush and Reagan and Nixon – oh, horrors, just horrors.”

LYNN LYONS, 58, of Laguna Beach, Calif., journeyed more than 1,000 miles specifically to see Obama.

A Springfield native, Lyons quickly booked plane tickets when she learned the Democratic candidate would be at the Old State Capitol.

“I got online, and there were about three seats left on the plane, and I got one of them,” she said.

Lyons said she was pleased with Obama’s selection of Biden as a running mate, and she called the pair “the most exciting political team in American history.”

“When I have observed what Barack Obama has managed to do with this campaign over the last 15 months, to me it’s just remarkable,” she said. “A man who can run a campaign like he has run his campaign is the man I want to run my country.”